On March 26, Hawaii will become the last U.S. state to lift their mask mandate, only requiring people to wear them in specific places (such as inside public school campuses). That state has one of the lowest infection rates and highest vaccination rates in the country. One may deduce that the strict mandates are what has kept their people so safe thus far.
Considering the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued guidance in January that stated we should step up our mask game and wear N95 or KN95 masks instead of the cloth masks we had all become accustomed to—to protect us from the Omicron variant—this drastic pivot seems very contradictory.
As a scientist, and someone still suffering from Long COVID, I don’t agree with the decision.
The Rise
It all started with a recommendation from the CDC on April 3, 2020 (less than a month into lockdown) that “people wear cloth or fabric face coverings, which can be made at home, when entering public spaces such as grocery stores and public transit stations.” Slowly but surely, individual cities and states began issuing mandates for wearing masks in public, after seeing favorable results come out of places like South Korea, where masks were mandatory (and issued directly to residents).
The Resistance
From the get-go there were disagreements about wearing masks, as our then-president stated wearing them in public was “optional” (later offering support of sometimes wearing them) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control discouraged their citizens from wearing them. Many claimed their “freedoms” were being challenged, which led to several viral videos, like these:
The Results
Spoiler alert: masks help reduce the spread of the coronavirus. Studies reported by the CDC, Nature.com, The American Journal of Preventive Medicine,Stanford Medicine and Yale University and Plos One all cite evidence that confirms they are effective and show the reduction of deaths and cases in places that had stricter guidelines and mandates in place.
What’s more, masks are inexpensive, easy-to-access (as many grocery stores and other retailers offer them free of charge for shoppers) and simple to use. They can be worn by everyone (with the exception of those who have breathing issues or children under the age of 2) and re-used if made of cloth or if disposable, yet cleaned properly.
The thing is—citizens in many Asian countries have been wearing masks for decades. From the influenza outbreak in the early years of the 20th century to the aftermath of an earthquakes, air pollution increases and good, old-fashioned allergens, it became a cultural norm to wear masks in public. Not a burden, just a simple layer of protection.
The Reality
Of course the mask mandates being lifted will bring a sense of normalcy that we’ve collectively wanted for a very long time. But that doesn’t mean the pandemic is over or that we are in any way, shape or form, out of the woods with this virus.
There are still millions of people who are immunocompromised or elderly that are at a greater risk for complications or death, should they contract the virus. Plus, Long COVID is not yet a major conversation topic in public communication and it needs to be. There are so many things I’ve learned, having it myself, and so many others also struggling, it’s a disservice to all of us not to give it the attention it deserves and learn from what’s happening to the bodies of those who have it.
The truth is, for the duration of time when someone tests positive for COVID, they may or may not have severe symptoms, but then certain impacts could arrive after they’ve “recovered” that could prevent them from going about their daily life. This is no joke—everything from a loss of taste and smell or absence of appetite to shortness of breath, inability to walk more than a few feet at a time (or at all), fevers, sleep disorders and depression. Serious, life-changing issues that can last for several months or perhaps even years.
Is it really worth the risk to go back to “how it used to be” when a tried-and-true method of prevention is attainable if we hold on a little bit longer? I don’t think so. For now, I’m keeping my mask on.
Do you agree that the mask mandates are being lifted prematurely? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
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Photo credit: artadyagumelar/Pixabay
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